10% pay rise could tempt half of workers abroad

Almost 50% of those polled by market research company Ipsos would consider relocating their job abroad if offered a 10% pay rise.

Of the nearly 13,000 workers surveyed from 24 different countries, two in ten (19 per cent) said they were “very likely” to accept the posting, while three in ten (30 per cent) were “somewhat likely”.

Keren Gottfried, a research manager at Ipsos Global Public Affairs, said the findings suggested that there was "both an openess to, and an appetite for, working abroad" – but that companies had to be careful they were offering the right benefits package.

“Businesses are more globalised than ever before and there is a need to move more and more people around,” she said. “It is important to get the details right, so that people are willing to move.”

The top reasons for not accepting the proposed transfer abroad were that a 10 per cent rise was insufficient compensation (36 per cent), that workers did not want to be separated from friends or family (30 per cent) or that their partner had a job which would make moving difficult (18 per cent).